WITNESSES AND RUNNING -- TOMORROW:
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." (Heb 12:1-4)
Devotion 12 of 13
"Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin."
Note, the striving is not against "sinners," but "against sin." Satan's objective is to lure us back into sin – into transgression. His temptations begin with thought, but they do not end there. Further, he is subtle, cunning, and tenacious in his attacks – walking about like a "roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet 5:8). He is not looking to play or to frolic, but to devour!
One of his chief temptations is threatening the lives of the saints. Many of the early believers, who are presently in the "great cloud of witnesses" who surround us, have given their lives for the Lord Jesus and the honor of keeping the faith. They resisted the encroachments of the devil "to bloodshed." In recognition of this condition, the Spirit cries out, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us: (Rom 8:35-37).
Some of the saints who lived before Jesus are mentioned in a holy and unnamed cluster in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. " . . . and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth (Heb 11:35-38). We are now in their fellowship, having "come unto . . . the spirits of just men made perfect" (Heb 12:23).
Early in the history of the church Stephen and James "resisted unto blood" (Acts 7:58-60; Acts 12:1-2). There was "Antipas," Christ's "faithful martyr," who also resisted "unto blood" (Rev 2:13), not to mention those unnamed multitudes who died in the early persecution of the church as a whole (Acts 8:1).
It is one thing to read about the suffering of others, it is quite another to suffer ourselves. By saying "You have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin," the Spirit is suggesting the path to glory may very well lead that way. No person can confront this type of opposition in a lethargic or anemic spirit. You may not yet have resisted sin to the point of shedding your blood, but you must arm yourself to do so.
This is not a morbid message. Rather, it highlights the enmity of the Spirit against the flesh, and the flesh against the Spirit (Gal 5:17). It is written, "If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?" (Jer 12:5). Resisting "unto blood" is contending with horses. It is facing the Jordan at flood-tide. All other temptations, stresses, and oppositions are like aggravating footmen. If we do not learn to run heartily and consistently on the plains, what will we do when we face the mountains?
There is a secondary application in this text. We have the Lord Jesus Himself who "resisted unto blood." He even did so in the garden when facing the fierce temptation to sin by not drinking the cup that was being given to Him by the Father Himself. The Scriptures say that at that time "His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Lk 22:44). We do not know all that was involved in this statement, but it reveals something of the nature of temptation. An angel was even dispatched from heaven at this time to strengthen our Lord. It is written, "And there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him" (Luke 22:43). He won the struggle that dreadful night, yielding Himself fully to the will of His Father, which involved the sins of the world being laid upon Him (Isa 53:6), and the Father making Him sin and a curse as well (2 Cor 5:21; Gal 3:13). You might say He sweat blood rather than sin.
And what of you, dear reader? What is your response to temptation – whether in the form of persecution, or the silent battles within? You too have not yet resisted unto blood. However, you can determine by God's grace to even sweat blood rather than sin.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, grant me grace to stand in the hour of temptation, regardless of the consequences.